Circular Economy Month: Canada’s Next Frontier

October is Circular Economy Month in Canada, and while awareness campaigns help spark conversation, what matters most is whether Canada can translate ambition into systemic change. Around the world, the circular economy has moved from policy concept to implementation mechanisms - and in some regions, to competitive advantage. For Canada, the challenge and the opportunity is to turn early steps into a coordinated national framework.

Why Circularity Matters Now

The linear economy - take, make, dispose - has defined growth for decades. But it’s increasingly unsustainable. Rising material costs, tariffs, climate obligations, and shifting consumer expectations are forcing governments and businesses to rethink how value is created. In a circular economy, waste is designed out, products and packaging are reused or recycled, and resources are kept in play for as long as possible.

Circularity isn’t just about better recycling bins - it’s about re-engineering systems so that waste becomes an input, not an endpoint. That requires clear rules for producers, consistent data, and economic signals that reward durability and reuse.

Canada’s Position: Building the Framework

Circular economy momentum is growing in Canada. Expanded provincial EPR programs, the Federal Plastics Registry, and evolving collection targets are reshaping accountability. Producers - not municipalities - are now responsible for the costs and logistics of recovery, with national plastics data soon providing the quantitative baseline needed to measure progress towards circularity efforts.

Provinces are also aligning. Ontario’s Blue Box transition, Québec’s modernization, and new programs in the Yukon, Alberta and the Atlantic provinces all point in the same direction: shifting cost and operational control to producers under unified reporting rules. Differences remain, but the framework is tighter than ever.

At the same time, voluntary corporate action is bridging the gaps. Resale platforms, reuse pilots, packaging redesign, and recycling innovation are taking hold. These efforts show that Canadian businesses recognize the value of circularity, even before regulation demands it. The real opportunity now lies in scaling these initiatives into coordinated systems that match the pace of global markets.

Europe’s Playbook: Policy as a Market Driver

Europe has become the global testing ground for how forward-looking policies and regulations can drive change rather than goodwill. Circularity there isn’t aspirational - it’s structural.

• The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR): Entered into force February 2025, with phased obligations starting in August 2026, the PPWR sets binding design and recyclability criteria for all packaging on the EU market. It bans non-recyclable formats, mandates recycled content, and enforces harmonized labelling. Packaging choices are now compliance decisions, not design preferences.
  

The UK Plastics Tax: Since April 2022, the UK has applied a £200-per-tonne tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content. This has created a financial incentive to increase recycled content with gradual reduction in the share of taxable packaging (from 42% in 2023/24 to 38% in 2024/25)[1], suggesting incremental shifts in the market.

• Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) and Eco-modulation: The UK’s new EPR framework uses RAM to classify packaging based on whether it’s recycled in practice and at scale. While UK-specific, this performance-based approach is mirrored in the EU’s upcoming PPWR, which will set recyclability thresholds for packaging to enter the market. These assessments drive eco-modulated fees - lower for widely recycled materials, higher for those that aren’t. France, Italy, and others already apply this model, using financial signals to reward circular design and discourage hard-to-recycle formats.
  

• Expanding EPR Categories: Beyond packaging, Europe continues to widen the scope of producer responsibility. France now operates EPR schemes for textiles, furniture, toys, and sporting goods. Europe is shifting from waste management to total material management.

Together, these measures show how Europe is using regulations related to a circular economy not just to manage waste, but to shape industrial behaviour. Circularity has become a competitive driver and producers that design with compliance in mind are rewarded, while those that delay adaptation face both regulatory and market risk. Canada can expect that similar trends will materialize here, in the coming years.

Where Canada Can Lead the Circular Economy

Canada’s commitments - from the G7 Ocean Plastics Charter to the UN Global Plastics Treaty - show alignment with global direction. Domestically, the Zero Plastic Waste Strategy sets the course, while the Federal Plastics Registry provides the data backbone. Expanding the Registry into a national dataset would unify fragmented reporting and enable true benchmarking, eco-design incentives, and accountability across supply chains.

With better data, harmonized EPR, and measurable targets, Canada has the opportunity to turn it's global commitments into domestic advantage - building the systems and intelligence needed for a truely circular economy that works.

The Bottom Line

For Canadian businesses, the takeaway is clear: circular economy policy is here, and it will continue to expand. Companies that engage early, track their data accurately, and adapt packaging and product design with regulation in mind will be best positioned to thrive in this evolving landscape.

At Greenstreets Environmental Resources, we support producers across Canada to make sense of these evolving rules, manage data, and prepare for a future where circularity is an expectation (and an opportunity!) for doing business.

[1] Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) statistics commentary - GOV.UK